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Press Release: International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Announces New Team Member

Jillian Mood of IGDA Ottawa takes role as Partner & Member Relations Manager, Tristin Hightower promoted to Director of Operations

Seattle, WA – Wednesday, 9 September 2015--- After a long search involving a diverse range of excellent candidates, the IGDA’s executive director Kate Edwards announced today that the organization has hired Jillian Mood as its new Partner and Member Relations Manager. Mood’s job responsibilities in this position are effective immediately.

In this new role as part of the core IGDA staff, Jillian will be chiefly responsible for supporting the needs of individual IGDA members as well as reaching out and maintaining strong relationships with the IGDA’s studio affiliates and partners. In this critical position, she will fundamentally help the IGDA better serve its membership base and improve our ongoing partnerships with companies throughout the industry. Mood has a lengthy track record in the games industry as a game studio HR executive, co-founder of the Ottawa Game Jam and regular speaker on game industry company culture.

Edwards offers, “We knew this would be a challenging talent search from the beginning, and that it would take a uniquely experience and talented individual with high energy and a direct approach to tackling the myriad needs of our membership and our supporters. We feel fortunate to have Jillian on board, and look forward to her contributions.”

The IGDA would like to thank Fiona Cherbak of Rocket Recruiting for the generous contribution of her time and expertise to help recruit a highly qualified new team member. Cherbak helped support the hiring campaign by implementing a specific strategy, tools and timeline to find the right candidate, and participated in screening dozens of candidates.

As part of their effort to maximize organization leadership, the IGDA has also announced that Tristin Hightower, who has been serving in the Operations Manager role since early 2013, has recently been promoted to Director of Operations, to better reflect the scope of her work and her ongoing significant contribution to the IGDA.

Hightower has been part of the leadership team at the IGDA for two and a half years, preceded by nearly six years as a committed IGDA volunteer, key organizer of community events for LadyHacks, Global Game Jam, GameLoop and other notable industry groups, steering committee member for IGDA Women in Games SIG, and an IGDA chapter treasurer.

About the IGDA

In its 21st year, the International Game Developers Association is the largest non‐profit membership organization serving individuals who create games. The association exists to advance the careers and enhance the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community. For more information, visit http://www.igda.org.